[Freakinoldguy]

2Cdo 2Cdo:

housewife housewife:

Wonder how long it will take to figure out what happened and why. oh and if they will be sacrificing new engineers or if the people in charge will wear it

The lowest person that they can blame and still look like their doing something all the while keeping their jobs and protecting their political masters.

As a Vet you should remember what direction the shit flows, even for civies apparently.

[2Cdo]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

2Cdo 2Cdo:

housewife housewife:

Wonder how long it will take to figure out what happened and why. oh and if they will be sacrificing new engineers or if the people in charge will wear it

The lowest person that they can blame and still look like their doing something all the while keeping their jobs and protecting their political masters.

As a Vet you should remember what direction the shit flows, even for civies apparently.

Exactly, but for something of this magnitude you have to "seem" to be doing something so you can't nail the lowest person, maybe one or two rungs up.

[DrCaleb]

From reports this morning, it looks like the bolts holding the expansion joint sheared off, and the nature of the suspension bridge means that the decking was then lifted up because of those bolts.

A couple tonnes of concrete blocks on one side held the joint down enough for one lane of traffic to get through.

Now, to figure out why those bolts sheared.

[Freakinoldguy]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Now, to figure out why those bolts sheared.

I think the article answered that question already.

$1:

'Big gust of wind'

"As we turned [onto the highway], we saw the whole bridge — a kind of big gust of wind came underneath it and blew it up and then it came back down," she said, adding it shifted by about half a metre.

So the question isn't so much why the bolts sheared but, why the bridge acted the way it did in what we assume to be a strong wind.

[ShepherdsDog]

Another famous collapse due to wind....fortunately no deaths for this recent one.

[DrCaleb]

Freakinoldguy Freakinoldguy:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Now, to figure out why those bolts sheared.

I think the article answered that question already.

$1:

'Big gust of wind'

"As we turned [onto the highway], we saw the whole bridge — a kind of big gust of wind came underneath it and blew it up and then it came back down," she said, adding it shifted by about half a metre.

So the question isn't so much why the bolts sheared but, why the bridge acted the way it did in what we assume to be a strong wind.

It should have been part of the calculations on wind shear as to how much force the bolts needed to be able to withstand. If they sheared off, then the calculation was wrong, or the bolts weren't to specifications.

[martin14]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

If they sheared off, then the calculation was wrong, or the bolts weren't to specifications.

5 mins to find out where the bolts come from.

Easy.

[DrCaleb]

martin14 martin14:

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

If they sheared off, then the calculation was wrong, or the bolts weren't to specifications.

5 mins to find out where the bolts come from.

Easy.

Not so easy. Things made in China or India aren't always crap. Plus, blaming the country of origin ignores that the engineers might have specified the wrong parts, but those parts were still built to spec.

[BartSimpson]

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Now, to figure out why those bolts sheared.

Here's a clue:

http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2013/04/ ... ned-alloy/

$1:

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) — The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has more than 1,200 bolts made from galvanized steel that is virtually identical to a high-strength alloy that a nationwide group of transportation officials banned for use on bridges because the bolts can crack.

Looks like your bridge contractor got a deal on some bolts that couldn't be sold in the USA.

[N_Fiddledog]

$1:

While Sandro Perruzza, CEO of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE), cautions it’s early in the investigation, he noted the engineers for the project are based in Spain.

“It’s all speculation at this point,” he said.

“The engineering company that was hired to do this is based out of Spain, so do they have the experience and knowledge to design a bridge in the cold weather we have in Canada that they don’t have in southern Europe?” he said in a phone interview Monday.

Engineering giant Ferrovial, based in Madrid and part of the same company that owns Hwy. 407, was responsible for the engineering. The $106-million project is the first cable-stayed bridge in Canada.

“When it was designed, were the design specifications put forward that would meet the requirements of the weather?” Perruzza asked.

He said the issue is not so much how cold it is, but how quickly it can get cold in northern Ontario, where temperatures can fluctuate by 10C or 15C from one day to the next.

“It’s the rate of how quickly it gets cold, and can the material expand and contract quickly?” he says.

“If a Canadian engineering company is doing the work, they would take those things into consideration and the design would account for that.”

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/01/11/ni ... d-in-spain

[BRAH]

herbie herbie:

I wonder if that's why BC spends like FIVE BILLION dollars to make a bridge...

BC is at risk for Earthquakes so it makes sense to spend that much.

DrCaleb DrCaleb:

Canadian_Mind Canadian_Mind:

Not sure why a bridge would fail like this. But this is why we should always have a primary and a secondary highway.

There are a number of ways. If the metals weren't properly accounted for temperature variance - falling temps could have meant that the wires would shrink more than expected. The same with the supports in the ground - one side may be differing metals than the other and cold means one contracts faster than the other. The decking may also expand and contract at a different rate than the structure the decking is held up by.

That's why bridges usually have those interlocking metal forks called 'expansion joints' that let the bridge flex in different temperatures.

It doesn't take much for something to go wrong, even after the bridge is built.

[peck420]

Chinese bolts? Spanish engineers?

Maybe just a sloppy Canadian welder? The steel work for this bridge was done over the winter/spring. Wouldn't be hard to miss preheating one or too bolts.

[housewife]

So while everyone is waiting on the shit storm and The old bridge to be rebuild maybe or what ever they are going to do why cant the military put in combat bridges. If it can hold tanks shouldn't have a problem with semis. Charge the whole thing to the builder/engineering company. Call it whole country exerciser. Then maybe figure a way to justify 2 bridges there always and check other trans bottle necks

May take years if ever to get the money but hey the military and government budgets are screwed any way and at least people will see a pay out for this. Besides it would be too hard to co-ordinate all that freight, people and cars going by rail to get around the bridge.

[Canadian_Mind]

Depending on the size of the span, a bridge layer may not be long enough. Even if it was, I wouldn't trust civvies to drive over them without killing themselves (half the time we weren't allowed to use them).

That said, the army does have bridging capabilities that could probably cover that span, it'd take more than a day to build though.

[Hyack]

N_Fiddledog N_Fiddledog:

$1:

While Sandro Perruzza, CEO of the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (OSPE), cautions it’s early in the investigation, he noted the engineers for the project are based in Spain.

“It’s all speculation at this point,” he said.

“The engineering company that was hired to do this is based out of Spain, so do they have the experience and knowledge to design a bridge in the cold weather we have in Canada that they don’t have in southern Europe?” he said in a phone interview Monday.

Engineering giant Ferrovial, based in Madrid and part of the same company that owns Hwy. 407, was responsible for the engineering. The $106-million project is the first cable-stayed bridge in Canada.

“When it was designed, were the design specifications put forward that would meet the requirements of the weather?” Perruzza asked.

He said the issue is not so much how cold it is, but how quickly it can get cold in northern Ontario, where temperatures can fluctuate by 10C or 15C from one day to the next.

“It’s the rate of how quickly it gets cold, and can the material expand and contract quickly?” he says.

“If a Canadian engineering company is doing the work, they would take those things into consideration and the design would account for that.”

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/01/11/ni ... d-in-spain

Somebody here doesn't know their Canadian history very well, B.C. has had the Alex Fraser Bridge since 1986....

$1:

The Alex Fraser Bridge was the largest cable stayed bridge in the world when it was opened in 1986.